Shoemaking



Aug. 22, 1944. P. A. PHlLLlPs SHOEMAKING' I' Filed Feb. 25. 1942 Patented Aug. 22, 1944 UNITED STATES "i lP''ENT OFFICE sHoEiuAKING Paul A. Phillips,V Haverhill, Mass,

Application February 25, 1942, Serial No. 432,298

2 claims. (ci

This invention consists in animproved process; i

of manufacturing shoes and relates particularly to the tting and finishing of the uppers of womens fine shoes and pumps.

Heretofore it has been the general practice in manufacturing such shoes to bind the top edge of the outer part of the upper by itself and before trimming and stitching the lining in place, that is, the binding has been folded about the raw edge of the outer part and attached to its inner Subsequently the folded inner marginal surface. portion of the binding has been covered by the lining of the shoe. VThe lining is often cut larger than the outer part so that on the last it projects above the top edge of the upper about the opening of the shoe, particularly about the counter portion of the shoe. The lining and upper are then secured together bya top-stitching operation in which the projecting margin of the lining is progressively under-trimmed. In these topstitching and under-trimming operations, which are carried out after the vamphas been closed by sewing its rear ends together, there is always danger of puckering the top edge of the shoe since the lining and outer yparts are likely to stretch differently and the operator may deliberately pucker the lining to make it t. Moreover, since the top-stitching and under-trimming operations are performed on the closed upper they require considerable skill and can not be performed as conveniently and rapidly as a flat4 fitting operation.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the objections of the commercial process above outlined. To this end an important feature of the invention consists in simultaneously dieing out the opening of the upper in both parts lof the upper, for example, the throat of a vamp and 'its lining, stitching a binding to the raw top instead of 'securing the binding to the outer part of the upper only, folding the binding over the registered raw edges of both the outer and lining portions of thevamp and upon the inner face of the lining.- Finally the folded binding vis stitched through the enclosed vamp andlining, preferably by zig-zag stitching, and the upper thus completed by the same stitching which secures the folded binding in place. This procedure not only entirely eliminates the topstitchin g and under-trimming operations and so materially reduces the cost of manufacture, but it also improves the quality of the resulting shoe by eliminating any danger of puckering of either the lin- Vforepart ll -is-faille or other fine fabric 12-146) the shoe-making method and correspondingly defvcreases the number of fitting operations which must be performed on the closed upper.

`As an optional feature of the invention I contemplate uniting the outer and lining portions of the vamp by transverse lines of ,Stitching which (may, if desired, definitely define a counter pocket in the rear portion of the closed vamp and limit lthe cemented area in the vamp. These lines of stitching, or any other convenient lines of stitching, are made with the upper in flat condition before cutting out the throat opening and so under the most favorable conditions. By this stitching, not only is the counter pocket accurately and conveniently provided for, but the vamp andits lining are maintained positively united in posi- .tion with their top edges accurately registering sojthat the operations of applying and folding the binding may be performed with assurance of accuracy, and with no danger of displacement of the parts and the upper.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred mannerof practising it,`in connection with the accompanying drawing illustrating one type of shoe in the manufacture ofY which my improved process may be advantageously utilized. In the accompanying drawing,

Figs. 1 and 2 are plan views of the outer and lining portions of a vamp,

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the lining as assembled upon the outer portion of the vamp in inverted position,

Fig. 4 is a plan view of these portions in superposed relation, rightside up, after the throat opening has been formed therein,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentaryview 1n perspective showing thebinding as it is preliminarily stitched edge of the lined vamp, that is, stitching it/O through both the vamp and its lining, and then,"

to theouter topedge of the lined vamp,

Fig. 6 is a corresponding view illustrating the binding as completely stitched in the position it occupies in the finished shoe,

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary sectional view. corresponding to Fig.,6, and I Y Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating an alternative construction of binding.

The vamp blank Il! .as shown in F1g. 1 may be ,cut or died from any material desired in the shoe to be manufactured, as for example, gabardine,

suede, kid, or other upper leather or fabric. This blank is cut from such sheet stock to the outline of the desired vamp exclusive of the throat opening. I

The lining blank is simultaneously cut from lining material or, as in the illustrated instance, it may-comprise a composite blank in which the supplemented by a doubler or plumper I2 and rear ,or counter sections I3 of non-slip suede. The

the rear edge of the superposed faille and plumper by a line of stitching I6. The composite lining blank corresponds in contour to the vamp blank I except that it is slightly shorter as shown in Fig. 3.

Having prepared the vamp and lining blanks as above explained, they are assembled in super-- posed relation with the lining uppermost as shown in Fig, 3 and positively united by a transverse line of stitching I4 which follows substantially the forward edge of the plumper I2. The

two blanks I0 and II are cemented in face-toface contact in advance of the stitched line I4, the latter forming a convenient barrier for limiting and defining the cemented area. The stitched line I4 also constitutes means for positively uniting the Vamp and its lining and maintaining them accurately in the proper position.

Having thus united the two blanks the next operation consists in` cutting or dieing out 4the throat opening I 5. As suggested in Fig. 4, this is effected simultaneously or at a single operation, while the lined vamp is maintained in a flatcondition. The portion removed includes part of the stitched line I4 and part of the stitched lines I6 which extend transversely either across or-in the area of the throat opening. The edges formed in this cutting-out .operation arev raw edges, and are, of course, left accurately superl posed in registration and are maintained in that relation' by thecement and the stitching I4.

` The lined vamp' is next .closed by the closing step which makesanendless closed bandof the top edge of the vamp', and then the binding strip I1 is secured by a line of stitching I8 to the outer face of the upper edge of the lined Vamp as suggested in Fig., 5. The binding strip I1 may be what is known as French binding, or a French cord binding, or any other desiredtype of binding-in thinribbon form. It is stitched wrong side out along its upper edge, and at this stage of manufacture is otherwise loose.

The next step consists in folding thebinding strip inwardly over the raw top edges of both the vamp` and lining rand laying itin contact with the inner suriaceof the-liningv II as suggested in Fig. 7. Inthis operation the inner face of the binding` is rendered adhesive-either by vcement applied. just prior to the folding step,

or, in some cases it is suppliedwith a normally adhesive surface, but in -any case when once folded in the position shown in Fig. '7 it Will remain there temporarily atleast. The .nal step of the process consists in forming a line of Azigzag stitching I9 extending through the vamp I0, the lining II, and the binding strip .I'I, thus permanently securing these parts together and mshingthe top edge of the shoe or pump. Upon the outer surface of the vamp the zig-zag stitching I9 appears merely as an ornamental feature, while inside the upper the zig-zag stitching substantially covers the inner face of the bindingA I1.

An additional and optional step may be carried o ut if desired, as shown in Fig. s. lThis consists in adding an elastic strip 20 to the inner face of the binding I1 and securing this additional strip in place by the same zig-zag stitch- The suede sections I3 are stitched to ing I9 already described. Such an expedient is desirable in causing the top of the shoe to cling to the foot of the wearer and to obviate any tendency of stretching.

It'will be seen that the raw top edges of the vamp and its lining, formed simultaneously as indicated in Fig. 4, are finished by being simultaneously enclosed beneath the binding I1 and that there is accordingly no necessity for any undertrimming operation in respect to the lining, where-the process of my invention is practiced.

The process of my invention has been described as being carried out in connection with a full lining, but it has the salme advantages when vapplied lto Vthe manufactureA of shoes in which a counter lining only is used or in which the counter lining only has been top stitched. The operation oI.'

smoothly placing and top stitching a counter lining has had particular difficulties heretofore, land such a lining has been particularly liable to be puckered by the operator. All of these diff!- culties are obviated in accordance with the process of my invention; a perfectly smooth counter lining is secured as well as a top edge having a superior binding finish.

I prefer/to secure permanently the binding by a Zig-zag line of stitching, but it will be understood that any pattern of stitching which substantially covers the area of the folded portion of the binding would be the full equivalent, and that thepattern of stitching applied may be adapted to the particular style of shoe being manufactured.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described a preferred manner of carrying it out, -I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

` 1. The process of slioernaking which includes the steps of preparing vamp and lining blanks, uniting the two blanks by a transverse line of stitching deningthe counter portions of the vamp and thereby positively and accurately fixing the blanks in the exact relationship they are to occupy in the finished shoe, cementing the blanks together forwardly of the said line of stitching, simultaneously dieing cut the throat portion of the united blanks and thus accurately aligning with'each other the raw edges of both the vampv and lining blanks, closing the lined Y vamp, thereby making its top raw edge into a closed endless band,`then enclosing said raw edge by a binding folded over the inner surface of the lining, and finally Zig-zag stitching through the binding. A

2. The process of making womens shoes without an imdertriniming operation, which includes the steps'of preparing vamp and lining blanks, uniting the two blanks by a transverse line of stitching Vdefining the counter portion of the vamp and thereby positivelyand accurately xing the blanks in the exact relationship occupied byA them inY the nished shoe, cementing the blanks together forwardly of said vstitch line, simultaneously dieing out the throat portion of the united blanks and thus accurately aligning with each other the raw edges of both the vamp vand lining blanks, closing the lined vamp there- 'by making its top raw edge into a closed endless band, then enclosing said raw edge by a binding 

